Kage Duel
by First Hokage Hashirama Senju
Summary: The Second Mizukage and Second Tsuchikage's final battle.


**Kage Duel **

* * *

Sand swirled around the rocky desert; the sun's unforgiving afternoon heat beat down on the hot sand, which had not seen rain in millennia. Two men stood opposite each other, a hundred feet apart. On the left stood the Second Mizukage, on the right stood the Second Tsuchikage Mū.

The Second Mizukage was tall and slender; he had long blond hair in a combed-back style that reached his back. He had no eyebrows, had blue eyes, a thin mustache, very prominent lines at the sides of his mouth, and a triangular goatee. His clothing consisted of a long sleeved, high collared grey robe, which had a pin-striped pattern. The robe was worn over a dark-blue suit, with a similarly colored sash wrapped around his waist, dark green pants mostly hidden under the robe, and a pair of sandals which reached up to his calves.

The Second Tsuchikage's entire body was covered with intricately wrapped dark grey bandages, which left only his violet eyes and shape of his nose visible. He wore a black headband tied around his forehead with no distinguishable marking and black pants which ended just above his ankles. His feet did not have sandals due to being covered with thick layers of bandages. Two large swords with heavily bandaged slender handles were attached to his back, crisscrossed with one overlapping the other.

Hot winds blew sand around. The two men glared at each other, waiting for the other to make his first move.

The Second Mizukage smiled, his voice cheerful. "If you won't attack first, I will!" The Mizukage gathered chakra. "Hydrification Technique!" the Mizukage's chakra flowed through his body and it became more flexible. He then formed a finger gun with his left hand, lifted the arm, and pointed it at his enemy. A ball of water protruded from the extended finger. His cheerful tone did not waver. "Eat this!"

_I've heard about that technique. _The Tsuchikage jumped to the left quickly.

A crack sounded and the compressed water ball fired from the tip of the Mizukage's finger gun.

The Tsuchikage felt pain on his side, it had nicked him but the wound was not deep. _It's fast._ Mū quickly continued his sideways movement to avoid the next several shots of water. "Spamming the same jutsu is a bad idea." The Tsuchikage formed several hand signs. _Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World jutsu_. A cylinder with a light in the center appeared between his hands. "This should do it."

"Wonder what would happen if I hit that…" The Mizukage's smile stayed on his face while he pointed his finger gun at the cylinder and fired off a shot.

Mū thrust his hands forward, sending the cylinder at his enemy.

The water shot struck the cylinder and resulting collision caused the cylinder to detonate, sending out a shockwave which forced both combatants to jump backwards to avoid the worst of it.

The Tsuchikage landed on his feet some distance away._ I'll wipe that grin off his face for eternity!_

The Mizukage's cheerful voice rang through the resulting sand cloud blown around by the explosion. "Guess that's what happens!"

_Irritating. _The Tsuchikage formed a single hand seal and gathered chakra. _Need to use the Flight jutsu. _He lifted off the ground, flew towards the closest rock pillar which had heaps of loose rocks at the top, and stopped in midair near it, "Let's see how you like this. Earth Release: Stalactite jutsu." The sand dispersed and chunks of rock flew at the Mizukage.

"Whoa!" the Second Mizukage shouted in surprise, he dodged swiftly. After the last rock missed him, the Mizukage formed several hand seals, bit his thumb, slammed his palm onto the ground, and summoning seal lines appeared. "Let's see how you like this! Summoning: Giant Clam!"

A giant cloud of white smoke appeared. Moments later, it dispersed, revealing the Mizukage standing on a giant clam that resembled an ordinary clam except for its massive size. It also had several prominent dark lines which encircled both the upper and lower parts of the shell; the Hidden Mist village symbol was inscribed in the center of the top half. The Mizukage smiled cheerfully. "Now, time for the genjutsu!"

The clam's siphons emerged from inside the shell and started to emit a strange white mist which spread across the battlefield quickly due to the wind.

_This could be troublesome. _Mū levitated more rocks and chucked them towards the Mizukage and the clam, but to his shock, the stones passed through.

"You have witnessed my Mirage Genjutsu!" The Mizukage's mocking laughter echoed from within the mist. "Over here!"

_Annoying! _The Tsuchikage hissed in frustration and sent more rocks at the Mizukage's next location, only to miss again.

"What's wrong with your aim? You must need glasses!" The Mizukage's mocking laughter was heard again. "This is what you deserve! Your underhanded tactics need to be punished!"

_Maybe this will work. _The Tsuchikage made several hands signs and another cylinder appeared between his hands, he thrust his arms forward and the cylinder headed towards the Mizukage's next location and exploded.

The sand settled. "Seriously, you need glasses!" The Mizukage's voice echoed from the mist. "What're you going to do? Quit, cry, and go home like a Genin who failed to get promoted to Chūnin?!"

_This guy…it's like he is trying to make me fly into a rage and blindly attack and get killed._ The Second Tsuchikage quickly flew down into the cover of a giant pillar of rock and landed, safe from the Mizukage. He peered around the rock to look at the mist. _Need to think of a strategy, a way to overcome that genjutsu! _

"What's wrong? Scared? Hiding like a scared Genin?" The Mizukage's voice boomed from within the mist. "Guess I will have to flush you out!" He formed several hand seals. "Water Balloon Jutsu!" Water pooled around the Mizukage's feet. Soon afterwards, bubbles floated upwards and launched towards Mū's location. Some struck the rock directly while others flew around it, aiming for the Tsuchikage.

He quickly dodged and headed further out towards another large rock pillar, which was out of range of the jutsu. _I need to use that technique. And then try to sense his chakra!_ Mū arrived next to the rock, out of view of the Mizukage and the bubbles before forming a single hand sign. _Hiding with Camouflage jutsu. _The Tsuchikage turned invisible, completely undetectable. _Now he will never detect me. _The ninja then formed a single hand sign. _Time to use the Chakra sensing jutsu, find him, and then kill him. _

"Whatever you are trying to do, you are wasting your time!" The Mizukage moved once again with the clam within the mist, "Oh, and if you are using a jutsu to sense my chakra, it's useless!"

_He's right. All I sense is that blasted mist. _The Tsuchikage focused his chakra and formed a hand seal. _Need to use the Fission jutsu, combined with the Camouflage Technique; would allow me to try to find him in the mist. _A copy of Mū emerged from his body, which then stood next to the original, "Go!" The Tsuchikage and his copy ran around the rock and into the mist.

"Where are you, scared little Genin?" the Second Mizukage continued his insults with glee before he saw strange disruptions in his mist. "Is he using that jutsu?" The Mizukage responded with barrages of bubbles. "Coward! Show yourself! Scared little Genin!"

_If I can track his voice and keep track of the general direction my clone is running in, I have a chance! _Mū kept running in random directions, hoping to get a hold of the clam.

"This is hopeless for you, just give up!" the Second Mizukage goaded before moving once more with clam. "If you give up, I can make your death quick and painless!"

One of the Tsuchikage bodies, currently unseen, rubbed against the side of the clam, and swiftly reacted to grab the clam with his left hand and grabbed the sword attached to his back with his right. He pulled out the sword and slashed through the silt between the shells of the clam.

The clam violently jerked to the side, bucking the Mizukage off the clam.

The Second Mizukage quickly stood up on his feet and staggered a bit. "What happened?!" The Second Mizukage looked around, startled. He turned to face the side of the clam with the siphons. "What?!"

The Tsuchikage flew out of the thickness of the mist, both swords in his hands ready to strike. "This is what happens when you get too cocky!" Mū quickly cut the siphons in half.

The clam jerked violently again and the injured clam vanished moments later in a puff of white smoke. The genjutsu dispelled near instantly.

The Mizukage stared, his mouth open. "H-how did you see through my mist?"

"Simple," Mū deactivated his Hiding with Camouflage jutsu and sheathed his swords, "When my copy slashed the clam, it stopped producing the mist and disrupted it, causing the genjutsu to stop for the briefest instant, allowing me to take advantage of its injured state. And I aimed for the siphons during your confusion." the Tsuchikage's clone walked back to him, re-merged with him, and his strength returned.

"Curse you!" The Mizukage quickly put distance between himself and the Tsuchikage and landed some distance away, behind a large rock. "Time to unveil my surprise!" He quickly made several hand signs. "Steaming Danger Tyranny!" Water pooled in front of the Mizukage and formed into a super deformed version of the Second Mizukage. It had all of his features except it looked round, had black eyes, and its face lacked facial hair except for head hair.

The Tsuchikage dashed off towards the Mizukage's location. _He really is a coward! _Mū was just about to reach the Mizukage's location when the Steaming Danger Tyranny clone rushed out to greet him with a battle axe formed from the arm. _This is trouble, I just know. _The Second Tsuchikage quickly ducked, dodged, and weaved between the strikes of the deadly axe. _It's unusually fast for its size! And growing by the second..._

Some distance away, the exhausted Mizukage hid behind a rock, he peeked around it to see what was going on.

The Tsuchikage swiftly kicked away the rapidly expanding clone. The clone then stood up and grew bigger. Steam started to issue from the clone. _Something's wrong! _The Second Tsuchikage sensed danger and quickly jumped away. At that instant, the clone violently exploded.

"There, it blew up! I hope it killed or at least hurt him!" the Mizukage's voice was heard in the distance.

_That really hurt. And both of us have let this battle drag on far too long. _The Tsuchikage stood up to his feet, and his left leg almost buckled. _It seriously damaged my leg. _Mū's right arm was badly burnt, most of the bandages burnt into the skin. _The explosion must have had a high temperature, extremely high. And that thing is reforming! Need to slow it down and kill the user! _Mū formed a single hand sign. _Earth Release: Golem jutsu. _He spewed mud from his mouth that soon formed into a giant golem, "Keep that clone distracted," the golem immediately headed for the clone and clashed with it using a blade of stone. _I can sense his chakra, it's extremely low. _Mū quickly headed to the location of the Second Mizukage. After half a minute, he could feel that he was close, and drew his swords, ready to kill.

"Still have enough chakra for one water gun shot." The Mizukage held his hand in a finger gun position and gathered chakra into his fingertip. Moments passed. "I know you are nearby, time to die!" The Second Mizukage spun around from cover and faced the Tsuchikage, firing his water shot.

_Die! _Mū thrust forward with both swords.

The Second Mizukage's water shot pierced the Tsuchikage through the chest, leaving an entrance and exit wound.

The Tsuchikage's swords sliced into the Mizukage's chest, impaling him.

Both blows were fatal, the two men remained standing, dying.

The Tsuchikage staggered. "You….were….a worthy opponent," His feet gave out under him and he fell to the side, blood pooling around the ground below his wound.

The Mizukage staggered backwards. "You…underhanded and…selfish…jerk….I...always hated…you…" the Mizukage fell backwards onto his back; the swords still suck in his chest. Blood pooled around the wounds. He coughed and breathed his last.

_Won't be getting back to the village… _The Tsuchikage coughed and took a last ragged breath before going still.

* * *

A dozen Stone village ninja ran through the desert.

_I hope he's not dead. _Ōnoki flew in front via his Flight Technique due to his short size, leading the team. Ōnoki was unusually short and had brown hair with a chonmage style hair cut and wore a brown cloth headband with the Hidden Stone symbol on the metal piece over his forehead. His eyebrows were dark brown and thick, his eyes were black, and his nose was big, red, and round. His mustache was also brown and thick and the sides hung down both sides of his face. He wore the standard uniform of Hidden Stone which consisted of a grey undershirt and pants, a dark brown flak jacket which had no features except for buttons which fastened the shoulder padding and a zipper down the middle, and some equipment pouches attached to his waist to make up for the lack of scroll pouches. He also wore a pair of black sandals.

A worried Stone Jōnin ninja turned to the commander. "Ōnoki, do you think Lord Tsuchikage is alright?"

Ōnoki remained silent; the team sped towards the battlefield.

The team came within sight of two bodies.

Ōnoki quickly flew to the still form of the Tsuchikage followed by his team. _He's gone. _He spotted the wound on his chest and another behind on his back. _Most likely that water gun technique._

"Damn it, he's dead!" a team member on his knees slammed his fist on the ground. "We're too late!"

Ōnoki turned to the man. "Stay calm." He turned to his team. "You heard what he said before he left to face the Mizukage, he wanted me to become Tsuchikage in the event of his death. Someone needs to carry the Tsuchikage; we're not leaving him out here."

One of the ninja picked up the Second Tsuchikage.

"Let's go." Ōnoki headed back to Hidden Stone with his team close behind.

* * *

Ten Hidden Mist ninja ran through the desert.

The team leader was Yori, the Third Mizukage candidate if the Second died during his duel. He had long black hair which ended a few inches above his waist, narrowing down to a point at the end. He also had two long bangs which framed both sides of his face and ended below his shoulders. He had black eyebrows and his eyes were blue. He wore the standard attire of the Hidden Mist ninja which consisted of a black undershirt and matching pants, was light blue, had two scroll pouches on the lower left side, a pocket on the right chest, a built-in pouch on the lower back, a neck guard, and was fastened by a covered zipper. The Hidden Mist symbol was also embedded n the back. But there was minimal padding on the sides, leaving most of the area under the arm exposed. He also wore a pair of blue sandals.

The team came within view of the Mizukage, who laid on the desert floor.

One of the members of the team caught up to and kept pace with Yori. "Is he…?"

The team soon arrived next to the Mizukage.

Yori gasped when he saw the swords sticking through the Mizukage and the large pool of blood on the ground. He bent down to one knee and put his fingers on the Mizukage's neck to check for a pulse. "He's dead, been dead for some time."

One of the team members approached. "And it looks like the Stone ninja took their Tsuchikage and left, if they had stayed, we would have fought them."

Yori removed the blades and picked up the Mizukage. "Let's go, we should not pursue, we need to officially decide the next Mizukage before our enemies realize we do not have one now."

Yori took off towards the Hidden Mist village with his team following behind.

* * *

**Note- During the First Kage Summit, there was an unknown man with long hair standing next to the Firsts Mizukage. So I had the theory he was the Third Mizukage instead of the Second Mizukage. Since it's likely the First Mizukage died or passed on the position to the Second Mizukage not too long after the summit. So I named him Yori because he had no name. **


End file.
